Now Commenting On:

Black knows Padres offense will get better

DENVER -- The sample size is still very small, but Padres manager Bud Black said he expect his offense to perform better moving forward than they have in the first four games of the season.

The Padres entered Saturday's game against the Rockies with 10 runs in four games, three of which have ended in losses. They've been limited to two runs on three occasions, and have scored all of four runs in the first seven innings of game thus far.

"As a group, they're not swinging the bats like they're going to," Black said. "But I haven't seen a lot of expanding the strike zone. I'm seeing good at-bats, but the good at-bats aren't resulting in hits."

The Padres are tied for 19th in the Major Leagues in strikeouts (29), so that hasn't been the primary culprit in their slow start. The team has 23 hits in four games, tying them for 27th in the big leagues. Their .222 batting average on balls in play, or BABIP, also ranks 27th in the Majors, a number that is quite unlucky indeed.